Now He’s Gone And Done It!

Vladimir Putin has gone and done it! His war with Ukraine has now sparked new and potentially damning actions against his beloved Russia. Oh, it’s not sanctions that the US and other European nations throw on Moscow. They expected that when they invaded Ukraine over a year ago.

No, what is interesting now, and has really made this war escalate is the fact that Putin, and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, have both had arrest warrants issued against them by the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

So, what does that mean as far as Putin is concerned? Well, not much at this point. Russia doesn’t accept anything that the International Criminal Court does. Neither does the US for that matter. But it basically is going to mean that Putin is going to have a hard time traveling outside of Russia from now on, especially if he goes to or through a country that does accept the ICC’s findings. He could find himself arrested, and sent to the Netherlands for trial. And it’s been “crimes against humanity” that he’s been charged with. It is the first time ever that a permanent member of the UN’s Security Council has been charged with crimes of this nature.

The whole thing stems from the alleged actions that moved Ukrainian children from their home country to Russia. Now, Putin says that he’s doing that for the childrens’ own good, and their safety. But that’s not the way a lot of the world sees it. And charges against humanity aren’t something the ICC takes lightly (or the UN, which used to determine the guilt of someone charged under those crimes). While the punishment can include anything up to and including death, there really hasn’t been enough in the way of convictions of this to say for certain what the punishment is. Yes, there were the Nuremberg Trials, the Japan Trials, and there have been a smattering of others after the World War II trials ended. But they are rare.

I guess what is most monumental here is that if it continues to fester, you could actually see the United Nations make the move to remove Russia from it’s permanent seat on the UN Security Council. That would be a huge black eye for the Russians. Now, I’m not saying that Putin doesn’t deserve this designation. Anytime someone invades another country, for, shall we say, less than obvious reasons, there is the chance you’re going to get called before the ICC to defend your actions. That’s especially true if you’re going to be found guilty of genocide, or rape, or kidnapping, as was the case here.

Russia has played fast and loose with trying to get it’s old USSR cronies back together, and they haven’t had much success. There have been a few former SSR’s that actually joined NATO (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania), and getting them back into the fold would certainly call for World War III. But there are others, including Ukraine that want in.

The overall thing with Russia and this war is that Vladimir Putin is up to his neck in trouble here. His army isn’t anywhere near of fighting capacity that the world once thought it was. Remember, the last time Russia was involved in anything of consequence was in Afghanistan. They learned the same lesson that every other nation that’s tried to invade that country learned. Don’t invade Afghanistan. You won’t like the outcome!

Well, the outcome so far in Ukraine has to be very disappointing for Russia. They’ve lost over 100,000 soldiers with many more injured and maimed. That tends to leave the populous crying for the war to end. When you are giving up that much of your nation’s treasure, and you have nothing to show for it, it can be a tad disheartening for the leader. And for Putin, it’s basically telling the world that if Russia wants to invade you, let them, you’ll probably beat them back pretty handedly.

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

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